PROFESSOR JERZY SULIKOWSKI

POLSKA

PROFESSOR REGINA SMENDZIANKA

POLAND

Studied under the direction of Professor Henryk Sztompka. Prize-winner at the IV"' International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1949. Made numerous radio and television recordings in Poland, Holland, Italy, Germany and Japan. Professor at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw and head of the Piano Department. She was given the title of Honourable Professor of the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. Holds courses of inter-pretation and delivers lectures in European and non-European countries, among others in Japan, Finland, Germany and Denmark. Is the recipient of many Polish and foreign orders, while also being prize-winner for her artis-tic and didactic activities. Performed in over 30 countries of Europe, both Americas, Near and Far East. On her initiative in 1988 was established the Regina Smendzianka Foundation.

PROFESSOR REGINA SMENDZIANKA

POLAND

Professor Andrzej Jasiński

Poland

Born in 1936 in Częstochowa, where he graduated from the Secondary Music School in the class of Professor Stefania Borkowska. In 1952-59 he studied at the National Higher Music School in Katowice with Professor Władysława Markiewicz. In 1960-61 he studied in Paris under Professor Magda Tagliaferro. First Prize winner at the International Maria Canals Piano Competition in Barcelona in 1961. Performed in Poland, in the countries of the former Soviet Union, in Europe, Japan, Latin America, Germany and the Czech Republic.
Since 1961 he has worked as a teacher at the Music Academy in Katowice. From 1972 until 1995 he was head of the Piano Department at that school. In 1979-82 he held the piano class at Hochschule für Music in Stuttgart. Mr. Jasiński was a juror at many piano competitions, among others in Warsaw, Brussels, Paris and Tokyo. Also held master courses in Poland and abroad (the International Summer Academy of Music "Mozarteum" in Salzburg, the Piano School in Italy).

Professor Andrzej Jasiński

Poland

Professor Yuko Yamaoka

Japan

Yuko Yamaoka was born in Fukuoka in western Japan. She began to have piano lessons in natural style of rendition from own mother at age of three. Later studied with Professor Yoichiro Miyake, Leo Sirota and Kazuko Yasukawa. At age of eight, played Concerto in A major, K. 488, by Mozart with Japan Radio Orchestra for overseas broadcast. At age of eleven, gave joint recital, and later performed solo with orchestras and chamber music ensembles, and in radio broadcasts. Won prize in 20th Japan Musical competition in 1951.
Decorate by French Government with chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1983 and Officier dans L'Ordre des Arts et des Letters in 1998, given Yokohama Cultural Award in 1990.
Yuko Yamaoka serves on the jury of many international competitions. She is also taking important responsibilities in educational and other social activities as member, Board of Education, Yokohama City (1996-2003); member of the board, the Yokohama City Foundation for the Promotion of Culture; Professor, Faculty of Music and Graduate School, Ferris Women's University; instructor, Toho Gakuen University and Junior College; board member, Japan Piano Teachers' Association; member of the board of trustees, International Music Exchange Association; board member, Franco-Japanese Society of Music; president, executive committee, Yokohama International Piano Concert, and representative, Yamate Geteza Piano Festival.

Professor Yuko Yamaoka

Japan

Zhaoyi Dan

P. R. China

Dan Zhaoyi is a famous piano pedagogue in China. He was professor at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music from
1964-1995 and is now teaching at the Shenzhen Arts School. Dan Zhaoyi’s father was a medical doctor, who loved music
and influenced his children to study music. Dan Zhaoyi entered the Music School in Sichuan at the age of 14, studying piano with Prof. He Huixian and Lin Ruizhi. In 1960, he went to Beijing to study with Prof. Zhou Guangren who layed the foundation for his piano teaching career. In 1964, he graduated from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music.
During his more than 30 years’ research on piano teaching, he brought forth many young pianists, particularly in the last ten years a group of brilliant, young performers winning prizes in important international piano competitions emerged out of his class.
Most outstanding are Li Yundi, Chen Sa and Zuo Zhang. His students won 34 times in international piano competitions, among them are 11 First Prizes: including the 1st China International Piano Competition (Young Pianists), Gina Bachauer Young Artists Piano Competition and Gina Bachauer Junior Group, the Krainev International Youth Piano Competition in Ukraine, the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, and at last the Chopin International Piano Competition in 2000, where Li Yundi won 1st Prize and Chen Sa won 4th Prize after having won the 4th Prize at the Leeds Competition in 1996. They are the first Chinese to win such a high prize.
For his outstanding teaching achievements Dan Zhaoyi has obtained various awards. He has been honored with the title “National Outstanding Educator”, “Excellent Teacher” and has been awarded the honorable Certificate for international Culture and a memorial gold medal.

Zhaoyi Dan

P. R. China

Bernd Goetzke

Germany

Bernd Goetzke was born in Hanover, Germany in 1951. At the age of 13 he was already accepted as a student at the Hanover University of Music and Drama, where he studied Piano with Prof. Karl-Heinz Kammerling until obtaining his Concert Soloist's Diploma in 1975. Another important phase in his pianistic development was his long association (1969 to 1977) with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, who regarded him as his last pupil. He also participated in Beethoven courses given by Wilhelm Kempff and Claudio Arrau. Bernd Goetzke was awarded prizes in several international competitions (Paris, Milan, Athens, Brussels, amongst others). Already at the age of 25 he was appointed Lecturer at the Hanover University of Music and Drama and became professor in 1982; there he teaches a class of young pianists from all over the world, as well as being Head of the Concert Soloist Programme. In addition he holds numerous Master Classes in Germany and abroad. He is also involved in the training of soloists and the development of young talents outside of the University environment: as jury member of many international competitions, for example, or as Artistic Advisor of the festival "Braunschweiger Kammermusikpodium" and as Chair of a society supporting young artists. As of last year he is Director of a newly-founded Institute for highly-gifted children. This Institute, conceived by him, is attached to the Hanover University of Music and Drama and the only one of its kind in Germany. In recent years his concert repertoire has focused on works of the twentieth century, reflecting his fascination with the stylistic richness and diversity of the period between Late Romanticism and Avantgarde. In the realm of chamber music one could mention the German premiere of Bartok's Piano Quintet, Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time", Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire", Bartok's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, or also the two Rhapsodies by Gershwin or Skryabin's "Prometheus". Bernd Goetzke has also published several articles on subject-related matters ("Freedom in Interpretation", "Pedal Technique", "Bach's Melodic Characteristics", "Articulation and Phrasing in Classical Music", etc.).

Bernd Goetzke

Germany

Daejin Kim

Korea

DAEJIN KIM has successfully consolidated the well-deserved
status as one of the leading pianists and pedagogues in
Korea.
He won in 1985 the first prize in the prestigious 6th Robert
Casadesus International Piano Competition (presently,
the Cleveland Competition). In 1986, Professor Kim made
his New York debut and received an exceptionally favorable
review from the critic for the New York Times who wrote
that "Daejin Kim demonstrated all the accouterments
necessary for a successful solo career”. Since then, he
has performed in recital and with orchestra in major cities
throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

In 1994, Prof. Kim family moved to Korea and since then he has become a prime example of that rare individual who is able to successfully combine both the demanding careers of a concert artist and the most productive teacher. His master classes have drawn international recognition and at the same time, he has been able to maintain a full schedule of performances such as a historic one-day performance of the complete Beethoven's Piano Concertos(2001) and the complete cycle of the Mozart Piano Concertos(2002-2004). Recently, he has appeared as a soloist with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchestra, Berlin, the RTE National Orchestra in Dublin, and the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Japan.
His recent discography includes 2 Piano Concertos by Mozart(K.488 & K.453) which he conducted the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra from the keyboard(Sony Label).
In 2002, he received 'the Professor of the Year' Award by the Music Association of Korea, and most recently, received a decoration for ‘the Artist of the Year’ by the Ministry of Culture in Korea in 2006.
Prof. Kim has been on jury member for the Clara Haskil International Competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Ettlingen International Piano Competition, and the PTNA Competition, the Sendai International Competition in Japan and Paderewski International Piano Competition, the Rachmaninov International Piano Competition in Moscow, and among others.
His students have earned the prizes in the major international competitions including the Rubinstein, the Busoni, the Viotti, the Ettlingen, the Oberlin, the Cleveland, and the Sendai(Japan). Recently, his student at the Korean National University of Arts has won the first prize at the 2005 Clara Haskil International Piano Competition and the first prize at the Leeds International Competition in 2006.
Daejin Kim earned a Bachelor's, a Master's, and a Doctoral degree from the Juilliard School where he studied with Martin Canin. Prof. Kim has been a member of the associate faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and has taught at Yale University as a Woodward Fellow. He is currently Professor at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul.

Daejin Kim

Korea

Aleksiej Orłowiecki

Russia

Alexei Orlovetsky (Russia) - prize-winner of international piano competitions, a graduate (1984) and a lecturer at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (till 1996). He studied the piano under Grigorij Sokolov, and then became his assistant. He also studied composition and opera and symphonic conducting (under Y. Falik and A. Mussin). In 1989 he got the second prize in the 2nd International Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht, Holland, and in 1990 - the first prize in the 7th International Iturbi Piano Competition in Valencia, Spain. He is both a teacher and a performer. His rich repertoire includes pieces from baroque to modern times, but his favourite compositions are those by Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt and Rachmaninov. In 1991, in Holland, he recorded two CDs with Liszt’s compositions performed on the Erard piano from Liszt’s times. Apart from the concerts in his country, he has performed several times in Spain, Holland, Yugoslavia, Germany, and many times in Poland. He has held 18 nationwide piano courses organized in Poland by Ferenc Liszt Society, and has held piano classes during all ten International Master Courses for Pianists in Wrocław from 1993 to 2005.

Aleksiej Orłowiecki

Russia

Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń

Poland

The teacher of Rafał Blechacz, 1st Prize Winner of the 15th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition, Warsaw. Polish pianist of Bulgarian origin. Graduated with honours from the State High School of Music (Academy of Music) in Gdansk, in prof. Zbigniew Sliwinski's class, in 1973. Completed her postgraduate studies in Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, in prof. Alexander Jenner's class. Participant of master classes run by Susanne Roche, Dieter Zechlin and Georgy Sebok.

Prizewinner of the Polish competitions: 4th Polish Festival of Young Musicians; 2nd Polish Competition of Piano Music. Entered semi-finals of 9th International Chopin Competition, Warsaw, 1974 (won 4th award); Piano Competition in Terni, Italy, 1975 and ARD Piano Competition in Munich in 1978. She gives performances both in Poland and other countries. She is a professor of piano at the Academy of Music in Gdansk and in Bydgoszcz. She has been also teaching several talented high school students.

Prof. Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń co-operates with the Centre of Artistic Education in Warsaw. She has been a jury member during several Polish and foreign competitions. Her students have been prizewinners of the various piano competitions in Poland and abroad. She teaches in English and German.

Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń

Poland

Jerome ROSE

USA

JEROME ROSE, one of America’s most distinguished pianists, has been heard in major concert halls across
five continents. A Gold Medalist from the International Busoni Competition, Mr. Rose began his international
career while still in his early twenties. His catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings on Monarch Classics
includes the Liszt Concerti with the Budapest Philharmonic, Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes, the Complete Schumann
Sonatas, “Davidsbundlertanze”, and “Kreisleriana”, the Last Three Beethoven Sonatas, and the Complete
Ballades & Fantasy of Chopin.
He was a pupil of Adolph Baller when, at the age of 15,
he debuted with the San Francisco Symphony. A graduate
of the Mannes College and the Juilliard School of Music,
Jerome Rose studied with Leonard Shure and Rudolf Serkin at Marlboro. He was also a Fulbright Scholar in Vienna. Mr. Rose has given masterclasses at the Moscow Conservatory, the Chopin Academy in Warsaw, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Munich Hochschule, and is a frequent guest at the Toho Conservatory of Music in Tokyo, Japan. He is on the Faculty of the Mannes College of Music and is Founder/Director of the International Keyboard Institute & Festival held every summer in New York City. Mr. Rose’s performances at the Festival have been recorded by WFMT Chicago for worldwide radio broadcast.

Jerome Rose has appeared with such orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, and Santa Cecilia, Rome. A frequent visitor to London, he has appeared with the London Philharmonic, London Symphony, and the Royal Philharmonic. In addition he has been soloist with most major U. S. orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Houston, Baltimore & Atlanta. Conductors include Sir Georg Solti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sir Charles Mackerras, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Sergiu Comissiona, David Zinman, Hans Vonk, Robert Spano, and Christian Thielemann.

Jerome ROSE

USA

Jacques ROUVIER

France

Born in Marseilles in 1947. He studied with Vlad PERLEMUTER, Pierre SANCAN, Jean FASSINA and
Jean HUBEAU. He obtained first prizes in Piano and
Chamber Music from the Paris National Music
Conservatory in 1965 and 1967.

A profound and proficient musician, he has won several international prizes: the Viotti prize in Vercelli, the Maria Canals prizes in Barcelona, the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud prize and the prize awarded by the Foundation de la Vocation (France).
In 1970 he founded the ROUVIER-KANTOROW-MULLER Trio with which he regularly performs. An eminent teacher, he was named Professor of Piano at the Paris National Music Conservatory in 1979. He has been often invited to do Master-Classes around the world: in Montreal, Vancouver, Saint-Jean-de-Luz (the Maurice Ravel Academy),and the international Music Academies in Flaine, Nice and Les Arcs. Beginning in October 1990, he succeeded Pierre BARBIZET teaching Piano Pedagogy at the Conservatory in Marseilles. His recordings have always been warmly received and have won prizes including the Grand Prix du Disque and the Grand Prix du Disque Francais.
Over the last 25 years he has played innumerable concerts in France and around the world, always with great success and joy.
Jacques ROUVIER's artistic career is the reflection of his rich personality. His performance are always praised by critics all over the world.

Jacques ROUVIER

France

Lee Kum-Sing

Canada

Lee Kum-Sing studied with Gerhard Puchelt in Berlin and with Julius Katchen and Magda Tagliaferro in Paris. He debuted in New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1963 and in London’s Wigmore Hall in 1969 and has since received international acclaim as a soloist and in chamber music in Asia, Europe, North America and Australia. He has collaborated in concerts with leading artists such as Cho-Liang Lin, Alfredo Campoli, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Rivka Golani and Kim Borg and has been featured with the BBC, ABC (Australian) and CBC (Canadian), and other Asian and European radio and television recordings.
Since 1971, Professor Lee has been Head of Vancouver Academy of Music’s Piano Department and faculty at the University of B.C.(Canada). Since 1985, he has been Visiting Professor to the Beijing Conservatory of Music. Many of his students have been prizewinners in major national and international competitions and are now actively concertizing and recording. For over 20 years, Professor Lee has been conducting master classes and has been on faculty at international summer schools and festivals in Holland, Poland, France, Belgium, Italy, Japan, China, U.S.A. and Canada.
Professor Lee sits on the jury of many international competitions, including the prestigious International Chopin Competition in Warsaw and the Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition in Brussels.

Lee Kum-Sing

Canada

Piotr Paleczny

Poland

&amp;lt;p class="western"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong class="western"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="color: #000000"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="font-size: small"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;The Chairman of the Jury &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong class="western"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="color: #000000"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="font-size: small"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;Artistic Director of the IX International Paderewski piano Competition&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" lang="en-US" align="justify"&amp;gt;Piotr Paleczny is one of the most eminent Polish pianists. He graduated from the Music Academy in Warsaw in the class of Professor Jan Ekier. It seems that the possibility to maintain artistic contacts with Artur Rubinstein and Witold Lutosławski has played a significant role in molding his artistic personality.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" align="justify"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;The success he attained at the 8th International Chopin Competition was the gateway to numerous, prestigious concert stages worldwide. The fact of winning the 3rd award, along with Garrick Ohlsson and Mitsuko Uchida, special award for best polonaise performance and the Witold Małcużyński award, gave impetus to his career that the artist has been developing to this day, performing &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;concerts on all the continents. &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" align="justify"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="color: #000000"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;Piotr Paleczny was appearing as a soloist with such internationally renowned orchestras as the Warsaw National Philharmonic, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the American Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;Royal Philharmonic&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="color: #000000"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt; BBC &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;Symphony Orchestra,&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="color: #000000"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt; the &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchester from Zürich, RAI &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;National Symphony &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;Orchestra&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;b&amp;gt;,&amp;lt;/b&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt; the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Argentina, or the Orquesta Nacional de España.&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" align="justify"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="color: #000000"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;Piotr Paleczny has been appearing in famous concert halls such as the Carnegie Hall, the Avery Fisher Hall, the Alice Tully Hall, the Hall of the General Assembly of the United Nations in &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="es-ES"&amp;gt;New York&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="color: #000000"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;, the Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="es-ES"&amp;gt;Berliner Philharmonie, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Royal Festival Hall in London and the Festspielhaus in Salzburg. &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" lang="es-ES" align="justify"&amp;gt;The pianist was invited to conduct classes in Newy Jork, Tokyo, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Bordeaux, Paris, Freiburg, Amsterdam, Hamamatsu, Montevideo, Toronto, Copenhagen, Mexico city, Lugano and Warsaw.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" lang="es-ES" align="justify"&amp;gt;Piotr Paleczny has gained renown as a juror at well-established international piano competitions in Warsaw, Leeds, Paris, London, Cleveland, Toronto, Seul, Moscow, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Montreal, Tel Aviv, Santander, Tokyo, Kitzingen, Casablanca, Prague, Hamamatsu, Sendai, Geneva, Taipei, Shenzhen, Weimar, Manchester, Los Angeles, Hilton Haed and Takamatsu.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" lang="en-US" align="justify"&amp;gt;In June 2007 he was presiding over the workings of the famous Cleveland Piano Competition Jury, distinguishing himself as the first Pole invited to fulfill the function of the President of the Jury during piano competitions organized in the US.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" align="justify"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;On November 5, 2001 in the National Philharmonic Piotr Paleczny was a soloist during the Gala Concert staged to celebrate the 100&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;th&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt; anniversary of the Warsaw Philharmonic.&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" lang="en-US" align="justify"&amp;gt;The recording - "The best of Chopin" – made with the Prima Vista quartet for the DUX Company has been awarded by the Polish Phonographic Academy with "Frederic 1999" prize and in December 2002 this CD achieved the status of the "Platinum Disc”.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" lang="en-US" align="justify"&amp;gt;Since 1993 the pianist has acted as Artistic Director of the oldest–standing music festival worldwide – the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki Zdrój. Piotr Paleczny has also acted as Artistic Director of the I. J. Paderewski International Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz and the member of the Program Council of the National Frederic Chopin Institute.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" lang="en-US" align="justify"&amp;gt;In 1998 the President of the Republic of Poland bestowed on him professorship.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" align="justify"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;Piotr Paleczny tutors piano class at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. It took no more than a decade of educational effort and the students working under Piotr Paleczny have been awarded over 20 prizes and honorable mentions at international and national piano competitions. &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" lang="en-US" align="justify"&amp;gt;In January 2010 - Piotr Paleczny inaugurated the Year of Chopin with a special concert held in the Polish Sejm.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
&amp;lt;p class="western" align="justify"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;In recognition of his outstanding achievements Professor Piotr Paleczny has been honored with many decorations such as the &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="font-size: xx-small"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span style="font-size: medium"&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt;Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span lang="en-US"&amp;gt; and the Mexican Medal “Aguila Azteca”. In September 2005 the artist was decorated with a Gold Medal “Deserved for Culture – Gloria Artis”. &amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;